ANN ARBOR---Child development expert Norma L. Radin, professor emeritus of social work at the University of Michigan, died of cancer Sept. 24 in Palo Alto, Calif. She was 72.

Radin, who taught at the U-M from 1968 until 1991, was a leading scholar in the area of child development and parenting, with a special focus on the non-traditional family. Her more than 50 publications included ground-breaking work on the link between the involvement of mothers in the cognitive development of preschool children and kids' later academic achievement.

She also was one of the first researchers to study the influence of fathers on the intellectual and emotional development of sons and daughters, and to examine the role of grandparents in child-rearing and the impact on children's well-being. In addition, she wrote extensively on early childhood education interventions and was a recognized expert on the multiple roles that social workers could carry out in school settings.

"Norma was a committed teacher and mentored many students learning to be social workers," said long-time colleague Sheila Feld, U-M professor of social work. "During her entire career as a faculty member, and especially during her tenure as director of the doctoral program in social work and social science, she was an important source of inspiration, intellectual leadership and support to doctoral students in social work, education and psychology."

Born in New York City on Jan. 27, 1926, Radin received bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology from Brooklyn College in 1946 and Columbia University in 1948, respectively. She later attended the U-M, where she earned a master's degree in social work in 1965 and a doctorate in social work and social psychology in 1969.